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Thoris
Thoris is an icy world that is the fourth planet in its star system. It orbits around the star HD 47186, a G6V Main Sequence Star that is similar to Sol. It is located in Earth's universe. Thoris has been considered a wasteland by many that have had the misfortune to cross its path. It was believed that Thoris was a terraformation experiment that went incredibly wrong resulting in the planet becoming a frozen wasteland. Thoris is roughly the size of Venus with a pressure of about 1.21 atmospheres and a decent .87 G of gravitational pull. For those from higher gravity worlds that have been to its surface, Thoris feels like a jumping castle where individuals can leap higher and farther than on their home worlds. However, given that the general terrain of the area is rocky, icy, and generally full of sharp rocks and ice, this is not advised. Thoris was first spotted via telescope in the 21st Century, but was first visited in 2517 by the old Colonial Administration Authority's scout ships. Thoris has a 35-hour day and a 590-day year. It has two massive moons that are believed to be the result of an ancient impact event. Planetary Description Thoris was once a volcanic world that was quite young in its solar system peaking at around 1 billion years in age. There is evidence to show that while the other planets closer to the star may have formed at a later time than Thoris, but since this planet was smaller, it formed and solidified quicker, whereas HD 47186a and HD 47186b (named Thelma and Louise respectively). Thoris also formed quicker than the third planet in the star system that was named Gregarious. This planet retained an atmosphere of strong Ammonia and Nitrogen. It was also located within the habitable zone of the star. When the CAA noticed that Thoris already had a sizable amount of oxygen in its atmosphere, it wanted to make the planet warmer than it was. Massive terraformation attempts sought to increase volcanic activity of the planet. The plan was to increase energy flow through volcanic conduits that would lay more gasses into the atmosphere, thickening the air, where scrubbers would later clean and purify the atmosphere. If the project were completely successful, Thoris could be rendered inhabitable by 2580, 63 years after initial terraformation began. The CAA began by diverting meteors onto Thoris' surface, creating new volcanic areas that would simultaneously lay new crust. The plan was to allow gasses to come from the new volcanoes and thicken the atmosphere with carbon dioxide. Stage 2 terraformation would follow with atmospheric processors slowly filtering the CO2 rich atmosphere with more breathable oxygen with the carbon being used for growing plants. However, things went very wrong following the first asteroid hit. An unexpected meteor shower caused the asteroid to tumble off course. Even this small alteration in the asteroid's path would result in a radically different outcome. The stunned CAA reps could only watch as the fireball struck the planet at an off angle, creating an impact event that tossed a large amount of dust and debris into the air and ripped huge holes into the planet's mantle. Tectonic activity went haywire almost immedietely after impact, causing volcanic states all over the globe. The CAA's plan worked perfectly, but too perfectly. The added gasses and dust into the atmosphere created a blanket similar to what occured after the asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago landed. This formed a near-impenetrable layer of clouds that actually served to lower the temperature of Thoris overall. The thick cloud layers served to bounce whatever sunlight headed towards Thyris. When the damage was done, Thyris was only an icy shadow of its former self, racked with high winds, constant snow showers, and a bitter cold temperature that was certainly not condusive to Human life. The new CAA believes that Thoris may eventually return to a habitable state, but the best estimates place this in 1100 years while the cloud layer, which is still fueled by volcanic activity, is dispersed. Thoris' landscape is covered with ice and snow. While this landscape is not as severe as Thyris II, it's still a wasteland that has little to no arable sections in sight. Originally before its terraformation, Thoris was covered in vast volcanic lava plains that stretch for hundreds of miles. Post terraformation, these plains are covered over with an ice sheet where snow continues to fall. Thoris is still very much tectonically active. While the planet did not have any oceans naturally, it was still possible and still is possible to locate subduction zones where the crust from one plate forces itself underneat another. There are thirteen noticable plates that exist all over the planet. Earthquakes are common especially around Thoris' equatorial Ring of Fire where a large number of volcanoes suggest this is an extremely active area geologically. Around the equator, the temperatures are hardly kinder, and soil is hard to find. Even if it was found, the lack of sunlight would make farming impossible. The clouds that cover Thoris are extremely thick. This serves to keep out the heat that is put out by HD 47186 from entering the planet's atmosphere, instead reflecting it back into space. From the planet's surface, it is extremely difficult to make out where the sun is, as the thick roiling clouds prevent visiblility of the sky. If the sun is spotted during the daytime, it's a slightly brighter colored part of the sky, Only when one makes their way through the cloud layer can they see the sun. Parts of the crust show Chaos-like structures that may have resulted in massive frost heaving or quake-like scenarios. Ice mesas have leaped from the ground, shooting above the land around them dozens of meters high. These slow geological forces are shaping Thoris slowly, but surely. It is unknown whether or not it is just ice forming the mesas, or earth as well. During Thoris' summer season, it is possible to find pools of water in other parts of the world other than around volcanoes where silty pools form regularly. This may be signs of the slow recovery process of Thoris, but there is a far more likely explanation than rays of the sun coming through. These pools probably form when geothermal heat warms up the crust beneath them, forming small meltwater ponds, and at the largest, lakes. When the heat spikes are gone, these lakes freeze again quickly, becoming new ice meadows. Native creatures did indeed call Thoris home before its terraformation and a surprising number of them have been able to adapt to the change. These slow-moving, hairy beasts are larger than the fauna of Earth, are stronger, but they lumber about. It was believed that their hides protected them from volcanic ash, but when the nuclear winter from the asteroid bombardment hit, their coats started to protect them from the cold. Development No permenant settlements exist on Thoris. The environment prevents any sort of society from being constructed. While structures can indeed be built, cities cannot. This isn't because of a practicality issue, but an economic issue. There is no reason for any society to be built since nobody actually wants to live on Thoris. However, Thoris does make an excellent location for criminals, smugglers and gangsters to escape to thanks to its hostility and proxamity to other colonized worlds. Any criminal with a ship and slipspace drive would know where their hiding spots would be, and Thoris would be one of them. Thermal scans of the region are notoriously difficult to do since a lot of the land is cold, so searching for Human-sized objects presents a challenge to law enforcement. Radio waves are difficult to pick out as well, and safehouses constructed on the planet seem in inconsistant locations, meaning that there's no rhyme or reason to their location. One could be located at the equator and another could be located at the south pole. Thoris served as the home for the clone of Avery Junior Johnson, who found himself awakening on Thoris, unsure of why he was here and with no idea how to escape. Johnson believes that he may have just floated to Thoris on his own, but if his story was true, the distances were too extreme. Bandits may have happened upon Johnson's cryotube in space and brought it to Thoris, whereupon Johnson was able to escape, defeat his abductors, steal weapons, and escape. It was unknown when Johnson landed on Thoris, but it was known that he was rescued in 3235 by a group of UNSC Marines who were making their way to Thoris to stop Doctor Julian Kintobor who had come to this planet because of rumors of a Chaos Emerald, also thought to have been in posession of criminals thinking that the jewel would be 'safe' on Thoris. Robotnik, who had beaten the UNSC to Thoris, managed to find the jewel by searching for the particular wavelengths that the jewels radiated, which the owners wouldn't have known to look for. Thoris may have also been used as a battlegorund between certain groups. Iced over metal and equipment shows that fights did occur on the planet and relatively recently as well. Whether these were full-scale military conflicts or smaller honor-bound duels in the cold were not known for sure, but given the scarcity of the remains found, it is more likely that it is the latter. Behind the Scenes Back when I was writing this story before I ever had a sense of where the plot was going or how the universe was structred, I put Battletech lore into the universe without any real consideration of how it would work. In Shadow in the Dark, Thoris was used as a Clan combat world, though in hindsight it makes absolutely no sense since first of all, the planet was located relatively close to Earth which would never make sense if it was used by the Clans. I suppose in my desire to want to include Battletech works into things, I leaped without looking. Thoris' reformed history is much more plausible and congruent with the plot now. If I ever get a chance to rewrite Shadow in the Dark, I will, and do away with the BT elements. Trivia *Thoris is named after Dejah Thoris, a character in Edgar Rice Burrough's Martian novels, where she is the love interest and later wife of the character John Carter. Appearances *Shadow in the Dark (First Appearance) Category:Planet Category:Locations